Vindictive
by bobbetter
Summary: MapleStory: The Dark Lord has set his eyes on three rogues who show promise, possibly more so than even his own son. After betrayals and lies, can our heroes defeat the Dark Lord and bring peace to all of Victoria? Story by Kevin Lapus and Paul Lee.


Summary: The Dark Lord has set his eyes on three rogues who show promise, possibly more so than even his own son. After betrayals and lies, can our heroes defeat the Dark Lord and bring peace to all of Victoria?

Disclaimer: You may not copy or use this story in any way. All rights to this story belong to Nexon Corporation for the setting, Paul Lee for ideas, and Kevin Lapus for writing it.

**Vindictive**

Twelve years ago the life of the people in Kerning City was much different than it is now. The thought of the Acts of Justice were nothing but a mere dream. The streets of the city were controlled by the followers of the Dark Lord. However, two of those very followers saw the evil of his ways and rebelled. Today they're known as the Heroes of Kerning.

Victoria is made up of four major cities: Henesys, Ellinia, Perion, and Kerning City. Henesys is the cheerful town where everyone could just socialize. All of the hunters, in this case those who mastered archery, live there. Ellinia is the city of elves and magicians, the intellectual. It is the city made up of the forests of Victoria, making it the largest. Then there is Perion, the land of the warriors. The rocky, mountain-like terrain can explain why their people are the strongest. Those who decide to take up the code of the swordsmen live here; constantly striving to become stronger. Finally there is our home, Kerning City. I guess you can say we are the most modernized, especially with the many buildings. Although we may be the most modernized, our town did not offer many jobs. The only way to live here was to become a mercenary, or as the rest of Victoria called them, rogues.

It all started with a young boy named Veral. Like many others in Kerning, he grew up with a destitute family. His father was jobless and his mother had to look after him and his brother. They basically had nothing else in their lives except each other. Veral couldn't bear to see his family struggle any longer so he decided to get a job; he decided to work for the Dark Lord.

The Dark Lord didn't pick just anyone to become one of his followers. The person had to be swift, silent, and could not be afraid to kill. Being swift was no problem in Kerning, especially since everyone thieved off of each other. However many were afraid of killing or being killed, so they never got the job. Veral appeared to be different. Despite his young age he risked it all. The Dark Lord saw potential in him and took him in.

Veral got many tasks done for the Dark Lord; pretty quickly too. He was as quick as a ninja and thought tactfully before killing monsters. The Dark Lord then decided to teach him to be an assassin or "sin" for short, rather than a bandit. Sins basically were ninjas; using ninja claws and shuriken. As Veral grew older, his murderous intent grew making him the highest ranked sin. This didn't mean he was the best rogue though. Dusk was the Dark Lord's son and true, original apprentice. He learned both the ways of the sin and bandit.

His skill brought a new task for him, which also brought him more money. Rather than killing monsters, he would now kill Victorians. Anyone who was known to have committed a crime was killed. Along with his new job he was given a new weapon; a Craven. Very few have enough skill and power to use it properly, and Veral was one of them.

In time, many were killed by Veral. Nobody throughout the whole continent of Victoria, other than the Dark Lord and Dusk, knew who was behind these murders. What they didn't know was that Veral also killed anyone who in his eyes, seemed to be doing wrong or committing crimes. The information of his killing sprees was somehow leaked to Athena Pierce, the leader of Henesys. All of Veral's information was given to her: what he looked like, who his family was, and where he could be found. From Athena, the information spread throughout Victoria, everyone was now after him. Veral's job came to an end.

The Dark Lord warned Veral and told him to take a break from the jobs and find a hiding place. He was unlucky though. One of the warriors of Perion found him and hit him in the back of his head with the hilt of his sword, knocking him unconscious. Veral woke up, chained to a wall; in front of him, a line of archers and marksmen ready to fire. Hearing a voice crying his name softly beside him, he looked and saw his family. He then shouted, "Why?! Why are they here?! What have they done to be punished?!" One of the marksmen then answered, "They didn't kill the boy who became Death himself." All archers and marksmen pulled back on their bows, ready to release. "FIRE!" shouted Athena Pierce who stood behind them. A rain of arrows came towards them. Veral faintly heard a familiar voice laughing deviously as he closed his eyes, prepared for death. There was one last thing he thought before he was knocked out: "There is no right or wrong in this world, only justice and injustice."

Several hours later he awoke, finding himself in a dark, quiet place. There was hardly any light and all you could see were dying trees. He then noticed that he was in Sleepywood, the dungeon where all criminals who are convicted of murder or treason are sent. Not long after noticing this, he heard the voice of a girl shrieking "Help!" Veral swiftly moved, following the voice and found her. The most feared monster in Victoria was chasing after her, Balrog. He noticed her attire and saw a dagger in her hand. Only rogues wore the specific attire she wore and carried daggers. He had almost forgotten that she was getting attacked but softly whispered "Dark Sight…" and disappeared in thin air.

The girl then saw him appear behind it. It appeared to be that his shadow was coming to life, popping out of the ground. He then rushed towards it with the shadow mimicking his every move. Both leaped into the air and threw a barrage of shuriken at Balrog, killing it. His shadow went back into its place as he slowly walked up to her asking, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Why are you here?"

"I don't remember. I just remember waking up here a couple of days ago."

"I couldn't help but notice that you look like a rogue. I mean, well, with the clothes and the dagger."

"I am. What of it?"

"Why didn't you just use Dark Sight and hide yourself from him?"

"Dark what?"

"It's a skill that all rogues should know, including new ones. Oh, never mind," he said as he walked away.

She then shouted, "Wait! Um, do you think you could take me in as your apprentice? You look like you have the skills of the Dark Lord himself!"

"Thanks, but I'm a sin, not a bandit. I've only had little experience with using daggers, but you do seem like you could use whatever help you can get. Just make sure you don't mess up like I did…doing what's unjust."

"Unjust?"

"Forget that last thing I said, I'll tell you some other time. Oh, I almost forgot, I'm Veral."

"Crysalia's the name!"

From that day on, Crysalia would be learning everything about rogues from Veral. He decided to teach her the way of the sin too even though she was a bandit, just for the sake of survival.

Day after day, the two grew closer and closer. They constantly trained on any monsters they could find in Sleepywood. Eventually their master-apprentice relationship grew into something more. When their relationship had become really strong, Veral finally told Crysalia of what he meant when he said "Doing what's unjust." Crysalia learned everything about Veral, his life and his crimes. Everything went silent after their conversation. It seemed that he began to contemplate about something he told her. It then came to him. "That's it! It's the Dark Lord's fault for me being here in the first place."

"Why do you say that?"

"If it weren't for him…I wouldn't have gained such murderous intent. I wouldn't have killed all those people. My family wouldn't have died if I didn't become the murderer I was. It's not fair!"

"Can you really blame him? He only offered you jobs to make money, but you slowly grew that intent and continued killing without stopping yourself. It's not like he wanted you to become obsessed with killing. Just be happy you aren't like that anymore!"

"I guess so."

The two finally found their way out of the dungeon and headed out to the forests to train more. All of a sudden they both stopped, listening. "Did you hear that?" asked Veral. "Yeah, what is it?" Crysalia asked nervously. Many of the leaves in the bushes and trees were rustling but there was no wind. Veral did not know what it was but the two continued on with their training. All of a sudden a black shadow swiftly passed through him and left a scar on him. Veral flinched for a moment. "Stay back Crysalia, it's too dangerous to stay here." The shadow appeared again. This time, it missed and hit a log that appeared where he was.

What appeared to be the shadow was really a man clothed in black. He stopped and stared at the log in shock. He had seen the skill being used before. Veral appeared above him. "Envenom" he said as his hands started to produce acid. He used the acid to poison the shuriken he used. The man looked above and a shroud of smoke started to cover him. When the smoke cleared, it had appeared that Veral missed and the man remained unharmed. A large shuriken then appeared in Veral's hand from thin air. It was his Avenger shuriken that was said to cut right through a person's body. It headed straight toward the man but was blocked. Five people who also appeared to be rogues appeared suddenly and saved him. They disappeared right after they were hit though. "Nice use of your band of thieves, I didn't think a bandit would use the skill like that." Veral said smirking. The man's red eyes just glared at him.

Crysalia was in shock from all of this, as if she had seen it all before. All the skills used were predicted the way she thought they would be used. What struck her even more were those man's red eyes. They seemed familiar to her but she just couldn't remember where she had seen them before. The man began to speak asking, "Do you work for him?"

"Who's 'him'?"

"You know damn well who I'm talking about, The Dark Lord."

"Look who's talking. You're the one wielding two daggers and using the techniques of a bandit."

"I no longer work for that worthless scum. Not after how took advantage of me."

"How so?"

The man explained his story and the truth about the Dark Lord to both of them. It sounded just like Veral's story except he had a sister rather than a brother, and he gave most of his profit to help out the citizens rather than his family and himself. That's when it hit her. Crysalia finally knew where she had seen the red eyes. She was the girl shot at when he was convicted of murder, she's his sister. She couldn't tell him though, he wouldn't believe it. She was killed before his eyes so how could she have told him she was alive after 4 years. She then asked him, "Excuse me, but what's your name?"

"Rennac, Rennac the Renegade," he said.

"So you have no family huh?"

"I have no home, no family, no friends. Only a mission to punish the Dark Lord for all the injustice he has done. I will reclaim that justice."

"Well now that I know the truth, mind if we join you?" interrupted Veral.

"Seeing how skilled of a sin you are, I'd have to take that offer. Let's give you a title too. You seem to have a keen sense of your surroundings and you want to recompense for your crimes."

"Veral the Vigilante!" shouted Crysalia.

"There we go. Rennac the Renegade and Veral the Vigilante." said Rennac.

Weeks passed after their alliance was formed. Now that Rennac was with them, Crysalia was finally able to utilize bandit skills properly. Much to his surprise, Crysalia caught on quickly as if she already knew the techniques of a bandit. All three were preparing to finally get their revenge on the Dark Lord. However it seemed that he had gone missing. Their only way to find him was to find his son, Dusk.

On their way to Kerning a man was staring at Veral in shock and shouted, "It can't be! You were killed right in front of my eyes. I saw it all!" Veral turned back and looked. It was Dusk. "How can you still be alive? You're supposed to be dead. I was right there laughing at your death!"

"You want me dead, Dusk?"

"Yes. My father only used your killing spree to get a large bounty on your head. I was the one who told Athena everything. Her archers and marksmen should have killed you."

Veral was infuriated and snapped at him. "So my family's dead because of both of you?! Where is he?! Where's the Dark Lord?!"

"Athena figured out what he was doing, so he fled to the continent of Ossyria. It's not the first time he's done it. All three of you are supposed to be dead, actually. Especially you, Crysalia. You knew what he was doing all along. "

She stared at him in shock. "No…I couldn't have! I don't remember anything!"

"Of course not. After being hit so hard in the head you got amnesia. But you were just like me, one of his apprentices who knew both the ways of the sin and bandit. In the end you used what you were taught in an attempt to kill my father."

Crysalia began to cry. She couldn't believe it, but everything was coming back to her now. Everything started to make sense to everyone. Why she was in Sleepywood and why she was so easily able to learn both sin and bandit techniques. After tormenting Veral and Crysalia, he then started to talk to Rennac. "Don't you recognize her Rennac? That's your little sister. How could you forget?"

"You're lying!" Rennac shouted. "My sister was killed before my eyes 4 years ago!"

"That's what you think, and that's what we thought too. Amazingly she survived just like you and Veral. Like my father had predicted, you three had potential because there was something different about each of you. That's why you were taken in by him."

In a quick second both Rennac and Crysalia disappeared. Dusk couldn't move at all, he was stuck in position as if he were tied to the air. He then figured it out. Veral had used a shadow web on him. Crysalia appeared behind him and Rennac to his front. He could see the rage in Rennac's eyes. They were redder than ever. Before he could ask for forgiveness, both slashed at his body vehemently, leaving nothing but blood splattered across on the ground.

Nobody was ready to hear the truth from Dusk. Everyone was still in shock. Crysalia was still tearing and Rennac just watched. Veral couldn't stand to see her cry and walked away. Rennac asked if what Dusk said was true. She nodded. He knew he shouldn't have yelled for not telling him before. It was time for him to start acting like the older brother he once was.

After few days of leisure and planning, they had finally decided it. They were going out to Ossyria to find that fiend, that tyrant known as the Dark Lord. Veral and Rennac thought over it and decided. Crysalia was not permitted to come with them. Rennac didn't want to think of his sister's death again and Veral didn't want to let his only love risk her life. She understood and let them go, saying their final goodbyes.

Veral and Rennac were both found dead in the cold snow of El Nath at the Dark Lord's feet. Athena Pierce was only minutes late to save them. He told her everything, about how he used those three rogues, and how they were only used to make him richer. He was no match for Athena though. He fell to the power of her bow. After learning the truth, Athena spread the news of Veral the Vigilante and Rennac the Renegade to all of Victoria, not only Kerning City. But to us, they will always be the Heroes of Kerning.

As soon as I had finished telling my children the story, I asked what they thought of it. They immediately answered and asked questions.

"It was great," said one of the twins, " but I have a question."

"What is it?"

"If the Dark Lord was defeated who teaches all the rogues now?"

"The only person left who has the skill to, Crysalia."

"How come not many people see her?" asked the other twin.

"Because she's usually at home watching over her own kids until they're old enough to learn from her themselves."

"Will we ever learn from her?" they both asked.

"Well, you just have. Today she told you the tale of your father and uncle, the Vigilante and the Renegade."


End file.
